I had gotten on the Spring tour the night previous, which was an enjoyable concert. The 2nd night (this night), the first set seemed okay (liked the song selection), but didn’t seemed to have enough oomph until Tennessee Jed. I was so sick of Touch of Gray by this point, but this Touch of Gray was different. It became all the song could be, IMHO. Many others here seem to agree. I’ve heard many over the years, but this version is Best!!

I was in CA by this time but cut my teeth all over the east coast in the early 1980s - and Hartford rarely disappointed, despite the crappy building and worse security. THANK YOU to everyone for calling out this high-energy show! You’re right about the Touch - Jerry is bursting and I can completely visualize the fist in the air - the crowd going bonkers - literally sent chills up my spine! Settling in to Cumberland now (one of my favorites) and excited about what’s to come. Forever grateful....

nothing but the finest.absurdly tight fire and intensity and an Alabama that smokes forever.the mix is excellent,the drums are unbelievable,and the band and Jerry's solo are fall off your chair awesome.Greatest is more of the same,with the sound,energy and tightness beyond compare.continuing on these themes,West L.A. is as tight,and continues the house crashing.and the Little Red Rooster is more of the same excellent band interplay.Brown Eyed Women continues to kick the door down,and man it's awesome.Beat It On Down is just as solid as everything before it, except it has that "never been here before feel",but thats only because the Band is playing it in a way that it hasn't been played before.and the roof is starting to crack !Tennesse Jed,although slightly more laid back, STILL has the intensity and prowess of everything else in the evening.just pounding till the end. and the MUSIC ! good god man ! the energy ! the sound ! the drums ! just unbelievable.
i think they are still trying to repair the roof of this building after THE MOST INSANE,BONE CRUSHING,I CAN"T BELIEVE THIS IS REAL TOUCH OF GREY EVER.i was there.when Jerry raised his hand in the second refrain,and the place went nuts, IT WAS ABSURD !i looked at my friend and said holy cow,what is this ! just stupid ! the best ever. BEST EVER ! not even funny how crazy and insane this is,just beyond what exists,thats all i can say. and then and again, more insane stomping with excellent sound and energy in Sampson with just a bunch a sick Jerry guitar lines and solos and golly i love to crank this one up right into a sick Cumberland with awesome energy,and Jerry turning backwards on himself on purpose in the solo and just ripping the thing.so leading into a FAT Estimated with the sound and vibe just beyond what was real.and the Eyes was just still stomping! and there is no letting up.into a fat drums,full of intensity and a short but poignant and serious space brought into an out of the blue perfect Uncle John's Band,with the band still on fire!when the first notes of Morning Dew fell,it was stunning ! all over ! the place just fell apart and together,and the roof just broke off ! that's all. the fiery and serious Johnny B. Good encore had the same energy and punch as the Alabama,and i walked out into the world thinking wow,what the hell just happened

Cycling through old Spring Tour anniversary shows! Nice, bright aud here and yes, this Hartford run was super charged! Was 2nd row directly in front of Jerry night before-sick! Some real gems here, WLA, Touch (yeah!), UJB-Dew
So many great memories in Hartford....miss those days

Nice sounding recording - audience is loud, but it is not distracting to me. I attended the show, and remeber the crowd being pretty raucous (especially Touch of Grey). The show really takes off at Music Never Stopped, and each song in the second set is well done. Morning Dew is ripping and emotive at the same time. Great jam in estimated as well.

F#$%ing ridiculous! Phil laying it down fast and heavy. This is my favorite Dead anthem for a reason. I know it may sound cliche but back in 1987 MTV (yes it used to play videos) was king and the skeleton marionettes video hooked me. I still remember hearing it again, but for the first time on regular old FM radio. I still drive that road from time to time and it brings back a lot of memories from when I was 12. Anyone remember cassette tapes? Well my In the Dark tape is sitting on my nightstand as we speak. Glad I still have it as the studio version of "My Brother Esau" was only released on this medium. Anyway I'm giving this 5 stars based on the Touch alone. I'm sure the rest of the show will not disappoint and I'm excited to hear it in its entirety. Enjoy! "I will get by, I will survive."

Because the others have this right. I haven't listened to them all but this Touch is one of the best!
Touch>Samson>Cumberland>Estimated>Eyes>>>>>>>> Musical Milk!

Great show. Somehow the boys always seemed to rip it up in Hartford. Touch-Sammy-Cumby!!! What a hoedown. Great Dew. Loud crowd.

Thanks to Stephen Porter for capturing this one into a great recording.

This is a gem from the great year of 87. 4stars...both nights were great but the recording on this one is crap.BIG Jerry night..Uncle Johns Jam is sick as fuck.leads into an epic "DEW

This was an incredible show. I saw 10 shows on this tour. The three in Hampton, this one, the three in Philly and the three in Worcester. This, in my opinion, is as good as any of them. From the opening Alabama you could tell this was going to be a hot show. Jerry fucked up some of the words but his guitar playing is very inspired. I also agree that these audience copies are the bomb. I got a copy that sounds like it came from this source about three months after the show, and it was one of my favorite tapes for years. They don't make em' like this anymore.

Not a dadburn thing. Rocking show from Alabama to Johnny B Goode.


Jim

power house, well played, good sound quality.

the dew was one of the last great ones. after this it got WAY overplayed in the summer and fall...maybe in 88 too. the one from 7-4-89 is excellent. however at this show i winced then and now at the entry into the first solo. a trainwreck to be sure. the rest is gravy.

These two nights in Hartford were the first shows I saw after Jerry came back from his coma... And MAN oh MAN he is leading the charge, talk about recharging your batteries. These shows, this tour, this year 1987 was just packed with energy!
These AUD tapes are so fun to crank up on a big speaker system, they thunder and the crowd is enthusastic as hell.
2nd set opener this night with Touch of Grey is poigniant. I will Survive meant something more than just words after Jerry came back from his coma, and you can hear it in this tape. We Will Survive was equally as tremendous, It was evident that the celebration of Jerry's return was full on, even though he'd made it back to the stage in Oct of 86 w/JGB. I have listened to most of this east coast spring tour and have downloaded most if it and the past week have been listening to nothing but this tour, it's getting me through winter and this is really exciting Dead!! If you like it when these guys rock, this is amped up DEAD!! You'll love this tour!!

Just listen then you will know how great this show is I wish I ncould have been there.

I just gave that Touch a listen, and man, they should have put it on the album instead of the studio version. It is crackling with energy. Check out Bob going berserk on guitar. A powerful piece of work, indeed.

I am going to check out the rest of the show right now and will ammend my rating if necessary. For now, I am giving it the benefit of the doubt based on what I've heard so far. Nice sound too, levels are bit high though.

Best ever - Period. Tenn Jed ditto. Music up there. Fantastic show.

THIS RECORDING IS ONE OF THE BEST AVAILABLE TO LISTEN TO. SOUND QUALITY IS EXCELLENT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SHOW... THE BAND ROCKS FROM THE START TO THE END... THE CROWD STAYS PSYCHED FROM START TO FINISH. JERRY JAMS LIKE HE'S A KID AGAIN! THANK YOU TO ALL FOR THIS GREAT SHOW & RECORDING!

I agree with the previous review. This was possibly the best Touch ever. Yes, ever. Not only did Jerry raise the fist, he was rocking back and forth so hard that he actually started to dance a bit. At one point he bent his knees and actually jumped up in the air. Wow.

Were the Dead shows in 1983 and 1987 and the JGB shows in the late 80's and very early 90's. Other than that my 16 years of life in CT pretty much sucked!!!! First set of 3/26/87 and second set of 3/27/87 would have made for an epic show. Likewise first set 10/15/83 and second set 10/14/83. This night was great all around- -especially the UJB >> Dew with JBGOODE encore. There are times I think I should have called it a touring career after the summer '87 tour with Dylan. Then I stop being a tripping bumbling idiot and conclude that 13 years of chronic fun and smiles wouldn't have gotten me through the trauma of Dubya years!!!

This is sicky, brah!

This is one of my all time shows. jerry was so on it was sick. If you listen to Tenn Jed, that blew me away, they twanged that to death. Was it the Truckin the night before that was so hot?

Musically the band is more dynamic with higher emotional peaks than previous evening. But with every searing Garcia solo ("Morning Dew") there's a selction that never memorably comes alive...("UJB"-nostalgically pleasing but hardly memorable and 'Eyes' whose intro is nonexistant)
"Johnny" is a hot capper to the evening. Other hilites include a hot segue in between "Touch" and "Samson," a bouncy and lively "BIODTL," crowd unity during "Rooster" and the highly danceable "TMNS." Still it's 1987, and there's little oddness to be found as they're beginning to celebrate their greatest inroad to mainstream success.

Great first set with every one of Jerry's tunes being standards for this amazing , high energy, spring east coast tour. Bobby does his part too, with standout versions of G.S., Rooster(with a little help fom Brent), BIODTL(How are old are you Trigger?), and a killer MNS.
Best TOUCH ever. Not a fist, but the mighty PAW OF POWER was raised a few times during this monumental version. The Cumberland is also smokin.
Estimated>Eyes is also quite good, one of the last, fast Eyes. Space> Crazy Fingers tease> UJB>AM DEW E: JBG, is phenomenal every version a standout with the DEW being a version to build on for years to come. I still remember the look on head's faces, stumbling out of the civic center that night, BLOWN AWAY! Tough ticket to get, a 1987 show that can hold its own against many other years great shows. Better show than the first, mosly due to the 2nd set, But the Midnight Hour>Cold Rain and the Row Jimmy & Birdsong from the 26th are all killer versions.

Tough to get seats for this tour and this show proves why. One of my fav MNS. The Uncle John's>dew is perfect! Once you download this go to night 3 in Worcester and you'll be set for a while

I sure felt it that night, this was a night when Jerry broke through the sound barrier on an anthemic Touch of Grey - shouting out to those of us welcoming the GD back to the east coast after the '86 diabetic coma. Cumberland, Brown-Eyed Women, a rare (for the time) Alabama made the whole night a gem. Hartford was always a fun venue - I remember it being very vertical which gave the sound a lot of power.

I was at this show and had a great time. Set
1 is a nice warm-up. Brent nearly blew our heads off with the spinning Leslie speakers on his Rooster solo. Set 2 is where it's at - starting with the best Touch of Grey, with the biggest audience response, I ever heard in person. Garcia's fist in the air fired everybody up and made it clear he was really back from coma-land. Cumberland was a nice surprise before the jamming began in earnest. Space>UJB>DEW to end was unique and brilliant - looks short on paper but it's definitely tasty.